Enough Good Wine For A Small Lunch: The Australian Prime Minister's Cellar

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbot cannot get any respect...for his wine cellar. "A random assortment that ranges between the embarrassing, the more than acceptable, the tragic and the bewildering," is how this collection was described by Australian Wine Critic Jeremy Oliver, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

The meager collection of 170 bottles is valued at 4700 dollars (Australian), which works out to an economical 26 dollars each.

Oliver also railed against the presence of "tired and faded rosés, moscatos, flabby old Chardonnays." His final assessment? "There is enough good wine here for a small lunch."

Many commenters were outraged by the media pillorying the PM for his lackluster cellar full of cheap stuff. "The hypocrisy of the media is breathtaking. Can you imagine if it was a cellar full of high-brow wines inaccessible and too expensive for everyday Australians?"

Others had a more pragmatic take: "If the Queen drops in unexpectedly, he can always drive down to the bottlo and pick up a bottle of Grange at his own expense."

And one felt it was par for the course of how Prime Minister Abbot governed: "Why is anyone surprised that Tony Abbott wine choices are pedestrian? So convinced of his own wine appreciation he didn't consult an expert, that is pretty much how he has been running the country...."

Follow us

Sign up for wine news

Subscribe to our newsletter

Grape Collective is your online wine magazine that is also your premium online wine shop, offering a curated selection of interesting and unique wines. Sign-up and get a weekly email with articles from the great writers at Grape Collective.